I am thinking of dipping my toes into alibaba as i cant seem to find a certain product i am interested in at good enough prices on the usual sites like dhgate and aliexpress.
My question is to the guys who are using alibaba. What should i look for in suppliers? Is there anyway i can cover my back for fraud etc?
Any advice would be very much appreciated.
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my advice, ask lots of questions up front. see how responsive they are Before the sale.
I always ask for additional detailed photos of the product. I ask to see packaging options. Ask about how they handle defects, returns, warranty. I ask if what named companies they manufacture for.
You stand a much better chance on Alibaba if you are buying legit goods, lots of decent suppliers. If you are looking for phakes then you really have to do your homework before parting with your money.
My advice is to always do a sample order (1-5 pieces) first. All the legit ones do sample orders. For the first 5 orders pay with paypal or Alibaba's escrow service.
That is one of the ways to make money by ordering in large enough quantity for it to be profitable because of the concept of enconomies of scale. There are very few items that you can order a few by a few and make a profit. This should be obvious to almost anyone trying to be a reseller.
Have you tried esources uk or other supplier channels? I have bought and I stop
using the services because is increasingly heavy with fraud now, the embedded feedback or the escrow party gives you confident of buying but does not focus on fraud at all.
Alibaba 
